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Any Iron Butt’ers here?

chadwick

New member
Last week a buddy and I did the Bun Burner 1500 Gold ride. We rode from Spicewood, TX to Key West, FL. I ended up riding 1,543.8 miles in 22hrs 20(ish)mins. I stayed awake all night the day before the ride, then popped an ambien at 7am, slept very well through the day, and we hit the road, well rested, at 5pm central time. We did it this way so we were fresh through the night and had daylight for our most exhausted hours of riding. It was a winning idea.

I finally found ways to mount devices to my ‘19 1250RT handlebars, so I managed to get my phone, radar detector, and 11” iPad to all mount without conflicting with my tank bag. On the down side, I couldn’t see much of a dash. On the up side, my radar detector shows my current speed based on gps. I ran 3 power cables up to my handlebars to keep everything powered. I was able to run maps on my phone while running Waze and playing chess on my iPad. Between the Waze app and the radar detector, we successfully avoided any interactions with law enforcement.

It was a little cumbersome not being able to see my gas gauge, but watching my mileage in maps gave me a good idea where that stood along the way. In order to feel comfortable extending my miles between fuel stops, I purchased and carried a gas bag in which I carried about 2-1/2 gallons of fuel. It wasn’t my intent to use it, but it made me feel comfortable waiting until my gas light came on many times before I started looking for fuel. As designed, I never used the spare fuel, but I was able to later give it to another biker who needed fuel along my route away from Key West days later.

The ride was relatively eventless other than a near miss of being rear ended by a clearly impaired driver on i10 in Mississippi around 2am. Other than that, it was just a pretty standard process of working the highway, keeping the bikes fueled, keeping ourselves fueled and hydrated, and learning that the computer is incredibly adept at chess.

My sweetie flew in and met my buddy and me for a celebratory dinner of oysters and vodka in Key West, then my buddy and I parted and each continued our own trip separately. My wife and I have had a wonderful time in the Keys, staying a few days on multiple places working back toward the mainland and tomorrow I’ll start a multi-day ride back home visiting several friends along the way.

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I did the 1,000 in 24 a few years ago. Documented the ride, got signatures, when through all the stuff to turn it it and was confident I would get the certificate and tossed the whole works in the garbage! I decided I didn't want or need the wall plaque, license plate frame or certificate, or what ever it was they give out. I knew I did it and that was good enough for my. Besides, for years I have done at least one 800 mile day, just about every year, in a bit over 12 hours. I doubt I will ever do a 1500 in 24. At one time I thought about it but the desire has long since past.

I would like to add, I get it why this is a big deal to some riders. I understand, just isn't for me any longer.
 
I did the 1,000 in 24 a few years ago. Documented the ride, got signatures, when through all the stuff to turn it it and was confident I would get the certificate and tossed the whole works in the garbage! I decided I didn't want or need the wall plaque, license plate frame or certificate, or what ever it was they give out. I knew I did it and that was good enough for my. Besides, for years I have done at least one 800 mile day, just about every year, in a bit over 12 hours. I doubt I will ever do a 1500 in 24. At one time I thought about it but the desire has long since past.

I would like to add, I get it why this is a big deal to some riders. I understand, just isn't for me any longer.

Same here PoorUB, never bothered to make a documented run for the brass ring, but I've done several 1K in 24 hours with ease over the years on various motors. My GW's were easy to make the mileage in the time allotted.

Latest run that meets the criteria was hoofing up from mid Utah to Northern Montana near the Canadian border [ 1210 miles in 17 hours ] in 2018 and one of the days coming back from the arctic circle where I ran just about 1150 miles in just about 16 hours in early August of 18..

It's not all that difficult to do, having made numerous long hauls from Boston to LR, Ar. and New Orleans covering 800+ mile days in just less than 12 hours coming and returning. Lot younger then, the GW's were easy to run long and hard all day.
 
I completed a documented SS1000 in 2004. I tell people I rode to Belgrade, MT for lunch one day. (523 miles one way) Not sure why I did it, I guess just to say I did. It was pretty easy and uneventful. I've never been inclined to do another one.
 
It's on my list and I have a few routes laid out to go plus I want to get in on the IB lighthouse game.

Are you playing chess while riding? Wouldn't that classify as distracted driving?
 
Not a serious Iron Butt-er but did complete one IBA documented SS1000 from Moab UT to the MOA Rally in Salem OR in 2013. Really enjoyed it and learned a few things.
 
I did a few 1,000 mile/24 hour rides and one 1,500 ride and did the paperwork. I organized a couple of 24 hour poker runs that resulted in 1,000 in 24 rides. I then rode in a few 24 hour LD rallies. Then in 1999 I rode and finished the 11 day Iron Butt Rally. I rode and finished the 11 day IBR again in 2003, this time with my wife Voni riding her R1100RS ahead or behind me. :)
 
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Congrats on your accomplishment. I haven't done an Iron Butt ride yet, but planning a SS1000 for June on my LC R1200R. Clearwater lights are installed and a Sargent seat is on order.
 
Chadwick, interesting strategy...sleeping the day before and starting in the evening. Do you have an inclination to do anymore distance riding? If so, would change anything in your approach to another ride?
 
Did the SS1000 in 1996 during the Feast in the East. In 1999 I did the inaugural Butt Lite 5000 - 5053 miles in 5 days. Once I proved to myself that I could, I lost any more interest. Still prefer a long-ish ride instead of a quick "around the block" but I'm way too old and decrpit for anything that rigorous anymore. Good luck in your IBR pursuits! :clap

Dennis
 
Congrats on the ride. I have a few SS1000’s under my belt. Hey what’s with the IPAD ? To me that would pull your attention away from the road.
 
Same here PoorUB, never bothered to make a documented run for the brass ring, but I've done several 1K in 24 hours with ease over the years on various motors. My GW's were easy to make the mileage in the time allotted.

Latest run that meets the criteria was hoofing up from mid Utah to Northern Montana near the Canadian border [ 1210 miles in 17 hours ] in 2018 and one of the days coming back from the arctic circle where I ran just about 1150 miles in just about 16 hours in early August of 18..

It's not all that difficult to do, having made numerous long hauls from Boston to LR, Ar. and New Orleans covering 800+ mile days in just less than 12 hours coming and returning. Lot younger then, the GW's were easy to run long and hard all day.

I'm in the same boat. At least a few times a year I'll throw down a +1000 mile day. If anyone second guesses I just show them my odometer... My 2018 Bonneville has over 80K miles and allot of those miles come from big touring trips that I grab 3-5K miles in 5-7 days.

Love that Bonnie.

Best
 
On my ST1300 I did a BBG 1500 inside a 50CC Quest from Jax Beach to San Diego in 2014. 1510 miles to Van Horn in 22.3 hours , slept 5 hours, then 856 miles to the Pacific in 42.5 hours total. I've made it point to do at least one documented IBA ride on every bike since 2006. My list includes the ST1300 (SS1000, BBG, 50CC), NC700X (SS1000, BB1500, SS1000), Triumph Tiger 800 (SS1000), Goldwing (SS1000) , R1200RT (SS1000).
 
Chadwick, interesting strategy...sleeping the day before and starting in the evening. Do you have an inclination to do anymore distance riding? If so, would change anything in your approach to another ride?

I feel like the strategy worked out very well. It was the strong winner for me and it put me back on a great sleep pattern so I could enjoy the keys with my wife who flew in.

The big change that I’d consider is maybe do a destination other than Key West as the last 120-ish miles from the mainland to Key West is a two lane road stacked with vehicles going under the already very low speed limit. There is barely any opportunity to pass and speeding is almost certainly going to get you pulled over. So you’re stuck averaging about 45mph for nearly 3 grueling hours at the end of a very long ride.

The other potential change you could make, depending on the goal of your ride, is consider doing a loop instead of a straight line, so you’re ending your ride at or near home, compared to having to ride 1500+ miles home. For me, on this trip, it was as much about the destination as it was the parameters of the BB1500 Gold. I had a lot of fun with my ride home, taking mostly non interstate roads and seeing a lot of the Florida coast and partying in a lot of different cities.

Also, maybe don’t plan a 600 mile day after partying in New Orleans until 5:30am 🤣
It made yesterday a long painful day.
 
On my ST1300 I did a BBG 1500 inside a 50CC Quest from Jax Beach to San Diego in 2014. 1510 miles to Van Horn in 22.3 hours , slept 5 hours, then 856 miles to the Pacific in 42.5 hours total. I've made it point to do at least one documented IBA ride on every bike since 2006. My list includes the ST1300 (SS1000, BBG, 50CC), NC700X (SS1000, BB1500, SS1000), Triumph Tiger 800 (SS1000), Goldwing (SS1000) , R1200RT (SS1000).


❤️
 
Congrats on the ride. I have a few SS1000’s under my belt. Hey what’s with the IPAD ? To me that would pull your attention away from the road.

I’d say each rider needs to assess their skills and decide what they’re comfortable with. I know for me there are some days that I’m off point in some ways and the iPad wouldn’t be a good idea, but usually I’m sharp, comfortable, and my bike feels almost like an intuitive extension of myself and the iPad is just fine. This was my first trip to have it mounted on my bike and it turned out to be a priceless source of data for me. I originally mounted it with the thought that I would be able to watch movies on my long overnight down Interstate 10, but the truth is I didn’t use it for that at all. Primarily I used it to run the Waze app, which was critically effective at warning me about cops running radar, debris in the road, stalled vehicles, collisions, etc. I directly attribute it to saving me from at least three otherwise certain tickets and many other potential tickets. It turns out that Florida is extremely cop heavy.

Additionally, it gave me the ability to try out different route adjustments on a separate screen from my phone, which was my primary navigation tool. This turned out to be very valuable several times to be able to make informed decisions about routing ideas mostly on my ride home which was a largely unplanned ride.

It also gave me the ability to do ride related web searches such as finding ferry schedules, getting hotel suggestions when I figured out which cities I’d do overnights in, getting restaurant suggestions, finding gas stations ahead of my arrival, etc. The beauty about the large screen is that it has large ‘buttons’ and larger font than my phone. It was very easy to use with gloves and while riding, which my phone is not. I feel like it actually made my ride a lot safer having my iPad compared to not having it.

There were two significant drawbacks to having my iPad on the bike. The first and most obvious was that it obstructed my view of most of my dash. I couldn’t see my speedometer at all and it was a real effort to see my gas gauge and less importantly, my gear indicator. I could see my speed on my bike’s nav unit and my radar detector also displays my current speed, so I used those sources for that info. A couple of times my low fuel ding let me know I was on my last fuel bar unexpectedly, but usually I was watching my miles of progress closely enough to know about where my fuel stood AND I was carrying a gas bag with 2-1/2 extra gallons of fuel. Usually you song need your gear indicator, but occasionally you’re approaching a red light with clutch pulled in and clicking down your gears with a lot of things happening around you and the light turns green and maybe you’re not in the best gear. No biggie, fix it and jam on.

The other significant drawback is needing to do anything that requires you to walk away from your bike such as a bathroom break, buying anything, restaurant stops, etc. You HAVE to remove your devices. $1500 iPad, $650 radar detector, and $1100 phone sitting there as easy targets. The ride to the keys was non issue because my buddy and I would take turns watching both bikes. The ride home was solo and 5 random days intentionally through areas where I’ve not previously been. It’s not THAT hard to take everything off and put it back on, but it’s just another layer of complexity at some stops.

I can’t speak for any rider besides myself, but I never felt like I was giving the road less than 100% of the attention that it needed. When there was a lot happening on the road in front of me, I’d simply not use the ipad the same way I wouldn’t make adjustments to the radio, seat heat, navigation, and all the other cool things we have on our bikes. I don’t see myself doing any long distance rides again without my iPad. It was an incredibly valuable tool for the ride.
 
Congrats on the ride. I have a few SS1000’s under my belt. Hey what’s with the IPAD ? To me that would pull your attention away from the road.

Oh, also I used it to play a little chess. Again, this was done as I had available attention and with occasional glances at the screen. Obviously no timed games and not when the roads are busier or otherwise complicated, but it was nice for giving my mind things to ponder and even provided some conversational content between my riding buddy and me.
 
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